How to build TUI with ratatui

Cli
2026-04-17T12:05:42+00:00
Initialize a terminal backend with crossterm and render widgets inside a loop using ratatui to create a responsive text user interface.

You build a TUI with ratatui by initializing a terminal backend, defining a render loop, and drawing widgets to the frame.

use crossterm::{
    event::{self, Event, KeyCode},
    execute,
    terminal::{disable_raw_mode, enable_raw_mode, EnterAlternateScreen, LeaveAlternateScreen},
};
use ratatui::{
    backend::CrosstermBackend,
    widgets::{Block, Paragraph},
    Frame, Terminal,
};
use std::io;

fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    enable_raw_mode()?;
    let mut stdout = io::stdout();
    execute!(stdout, EnterAlternateScreen)?;
    let backend = CrosstermBackend::new(stdout);
    let mut terminal = Terminal::new(backend)?;

    loop {
        terminal.draw(|f| {
            let block = Block::default().title("Hello");
            let paragraph = Paragraph::new("World").block(block);
            f.render_widget(paragraph, f.area());
        })?;

        if let Event::Key(key) = event::read()? {
            if key.code == KeyCode::Esc {
                break;
            }
        }
    }

    disable_raw_mode()?;
    execute!(terminal.backend_mut(), LeaveAlternateScreen)?;
    terminal.show_cursor()?;
    Ok(())
}